Royal Prank Call: Radio Station to Donate $500K to Nurse’s Family

A Current Affair/ABC News(SYDNEY) — The Australian radio station that employed the DJs who prank-called the London hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated has cancelled their show and will donate at least $500,000 to the grieving husband and children of the nurse who took the call and later apparently killed herself.

Australia’s 2Day FM released a statement on Tuesday saying it hopes to “help [Jacintha] Saldanha’s family with the support they need at this very difficult time.”

After days of suspended advertising, the radio station at the center of a global firestorm announced it will resume airing commercials on Thursday. All its profits for the rest of the year will go directly to the family of the unsuspecting nurse at the center of that joke.

The Sydney-based station also issued a company-wide suspension of prank calls after the nurse who initially answered the hospital call was found dead.

Saldanha’s husband and two teenage children met with officials at the hospital on Monday, and spoke publicly for the first time, although via a member of the British Parliament.

“This is a close family,” Keith Vaz said. “They are devastated by what has happened. They miss her every moment of every day.”

While their show has been terminated, it’s still unclear whether DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian of Australia’s 2Day FM will be.

The two could face criminal charges if police determine their call was illegally recorded.